Prestige

[bitter_brother]

Amy wasn't happy at all that I was leaving the hotel room in the middle of the day. She said she'd been feeling kind of nauseous since Jezebel left. Nervous. Worried that Jezebel was going to accidentally kill someone while cavorting around town. Plus, before I went to the lobby to call the Wolfram & Hart lady, Amy and I were kind of... at each

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[da_lilah]

After Tucker had agreed to come over, I'd thought long and hard about how I wanted to approach this meeting. Judging by his reactions on the phone, he was obviously losing control of the situation, and was extremely on edge. I'd need to make him feel at ease, give him a sense of security, that someone was indeed looking out for his best interests. Not that I planned on being some surrogate mommy figure, far from it. But softly, softly catchy monkey, as they say. I decided to dress in one of my smarter chanel suits, it was cut short enough to show my legs to advantage, but was sedate enough that Tucker wouldn't think this was anything but a business meeting, and bolt out the door before we'd even begun the negotations.

As soon as he knocked I opened the door, and gave him a confident smile.

"Please. Come in. Make yourself at home." I stepped back and motioned him in. He seemed about as nervous as I'd expected him to be. I moved over to the side board and poured myself a brandy, then I held up a second glass. "Something to drink? You look a little peaky, is everything alright?"

[bitter_brother]

There was something so in-control about her phone voice that I expected Lilah Morgan to be a lot older. Like, 80. I mean, she was probably halfway there, which qualified her as old and all, but... she wore it well.

"Thanks," I said, walking in and suddenly feeling really shabby in jeans and a t-shirt. Were my sneakers always this gross and immature? "And yeah, I'd love something to drink. Do you have a --"

I was going to say beer. But then I saw that she was pouring herself something that looked less fizzy and more expensive. "Oh, or, I'll take what you're having. If that's cool. Ms. uh... Morgan, right?"

I ran my hand through my hair and looked for a place to sit. I'd never been invited to a business meeting in a hotel room before. Or offered brandy by a milf in a short, business-y skirt. I kind of liked it.

"And yeah, I'm exhausted. Thanks for noticing," I scowled, electing to sit in the desk chair closest to the door. Just in case shit got weird.

[da_lilah]

"Thanks. And yeah, I'd love something to drink. Do you have a ----Oh, or, I'll take what you're having. If that's cool. Ms. uh... Morgan, right?"

"Please, call me Lilah." I offered, affording him another casual smile while I poured his brandy.

"And yeah, I'm exhausted. Thanks for noticing," I noticed that he'd chosen the chair closest to the door. Smart cookie. I brought him over his drink, and then took my own seat in a plush armchair nearby.

"Well, keeping control of something as powerful as the creature you summoned, it must be pretty taxing on you. It takes a lot of stamina and willpower to prevent it from breaking free or even worse trying to control you. Which, I am sure you have in abundance. But still, you could over-exert yourself if you're not careful." I leaned back and sipped at the brandy, crossing my legs, and regarding him with speculation in my eyes for a few moments.

"Tucker. I know you think this might be some move to entrap you, that I may have plans to turn you over to the authorities. But let me be frank. We are in the business of doing what the authorities would most definitely frown upon. Wolfram and Hart is, at its heart, an institution that values ultimate power and knowledge over petty laws and misguided morality."

I paused and let that sink in for a moment.

"We've had our eye on you for some time." Which was a lie, but it had been easy enough to dig up his past and get a profile on his exploits. I reached over to the manilla folder on the coffee table and handed it to him. "Here's your file. As you can see we have done our homework. Your prom plans were particularly daring I must say." I handed him another file, this time with information about Wolfram and Hart, heavily sanitised of course, but still quite a read. "To put it simply, we think you've got what it takes, and would be a great asset to the firm. And we'd like to try you out on our new intern program if you'd be interested."

[bitter_brother]

I don't know. I liked her. She was straight-forward. I appreciate people who don't fuck around and get to their point quickly. I took a slug of whatever she gave me to drink and wheezed as soon as it passed my tonsils. Good god. Collecting myself, I glanced at her ankles and tried to think about something other than sex for five fucking seconds. This was important. People who didn't fuck around. People who got to their point quickly. They were good. Especially women-shaped people.

Focusing on the file that idea, I dragged my eyes away from her legs and looked at the liquid in my glass intently. I also liked what she was telling me about the nature of Wolfram & Hart's business. Just like them, I valued power and knowledge over bullshit, antiquated laws or some set of rules that didn't apply to anyone who wasn't the son of God.

She handed me a file, saying that the firm had their eye on me for a long time. I furrowed my brow. Really? They had? What, like surveillance? Opening the folder she said was about me, my eyes widened. There were photos of me in high school, taken from the yearbook maybe, alongside a black and white photo of one of my hellhounds on a lab table. I almost choked, and I put my drink down. Holy shit. They got one of my dogs? Not just that. A couple of pages later, there was a duplicate of a receipt for some G'rshlaugh eggs that I ordered over the internet, as well as an 8x10 glossy of the nest that they'd created in the woods behind my house. I didn't even take a picture of it. How did they get this shit? There were a couple of my papers from my ethics class at Dutton, a single-sheet summary on Andrew and my father. Nothing about my mom... oh, yeah, there it was. A sheet about my mother, detailing where she'd grown up, how she met my dad, where she worked.

"Wow," I nodded at the paper in my hands. "You've really done your homework on me. I don't even have these pictures. It's really... uh, flattering, actually. I mean, freaky, but... it's just cool to know that there are people out there who know what's really going on."

I looked up at Lilah, in time to have her hand me another file. I was in shock and the nausea in my gut was getting worse. As I reached for the file, I got a cramp that almost doubled me over. I fought it off, mostly, but I'm sure I must have flinched. It felt like I was resisting something that was trying to get into my skin. What was happening?

I continued with my movement and took the file, looking at it as she said that Wolfram & Hart were basically recruiting me for... something. I began to ask her what it meant to be an intern, totally distracted from my original purpose in meeting with her.

A moment later, I was distracted by something else. Whatever it was that was trying to penetrate my skin made it in. A warm flood of endorphins washed into my blood and I inhaled sharply, placing the new folder on my lap with the old one. I closed my eyes in a long blink and tried to get control of this.

It was Jezebel. It had to be Jezebel. What the fuck was she doing? It was like the shopkeeper, but slower, warmer. Did that mean she was fucking someone? Or, was she... oh fuck.

"I'm sorry, uh... Lilah," I swallowed, opening my eyes. "Can I use your bathroom, please?"

[da_lilah]

"Wow. You've really done your homework on me. I don't even have these pictures. It's really... uh, flattering, actually. I mean, freaky, but... it's just cool to know that there are people out there who know what's really going on."

"You'd be surprised just how much we do know, Tucker. And there's nothing like having information that noone else has. We pride ourselves in being cutting edge in many fields including the technological, and the mystical."

As he looked through the files, I noticed that a couple of times he grimaced and almost jerked violently in his seat as though he was in some kind of pain. He was trying to hide his discomfort though, perhaps afraid I would think him weak. Was this some side effect of the succubus?

Then Tucker had a reaction that I can only describe as bordering on orgasmic. He sucked in a breath and went rigid in the chair, his eyes rolling back into his head and the tiniest moan escaped his lips. I doubt he was even aware of it. Intrigued, I leaned forward and continued to observe him.

"I'm sorry, uh... Lilah. Can I use your bathroom, please?"

"Of course." I showed him were it was, and left him for a few minutes to clean himself up or regain his composure in peace.

Then I knocked softly on the door, getting impatient when he took longer than I expected to come out again.

"Tucker, is this something to do with your succubus? Is she on the prowl again?"

[bitter_brother]

I'd been sitting on the edge of the spa-sized bathtub for probably five minutes, breathing and trying to keep my shit together. Jezebel. Oh fuck, she was doing this. And, somehow I knew that Amy was on the other side of town, feeling this, too. I felt guilty, like beside myself with guilt guilty, that I'd left her alone. If she was in the room, waiting for me and going through this, she was probably going to tear her hair out.

Fuck, it was like every nerve ending in my body was over-sensitized. I had a hard-on again, too, which was totally fucking ridiculous. You don't bring boners to business meetings. Mine just showed up, like a drunk frat boy, ready to party. I considered whacking it, right here, in Lilah Morgan's fancy bathroom, with the fancy soaps, and the sweet smelling bottles of hotel lotion. Mmm, lotion. But that would be way bad etiquette.

I got to my feet, hunching over from the throbbing that was engulfing my entire lower half. I'd run cold water over my hands. That would help. God, this wasn't just Jezebel having sex with some Schmoe. This was worse. This was... I closed my eyes and tried to feel it more clearly, abandoning myself to what was happening.

Oh, shit. Parker. She found Parker.

That bitch couldn't control herself. How was *I* supposed to control her? This was madness. I needed someone to make this stop. I needed someone to break this bind, because it was going to make me go crazy, if it was going to be like this.

Lilah's voice came through the door, worried, or curious. I couldn't tell. At least I didn't have to fake it with her. She already knew me inside and out, it appeared.

"Yeah..." I groaned, reaching forward to unlock the door, before sitting back down on the tub. "It's not just prowling. I think... fuck, god damn it. I think she -- just come in."

[da_lilah]

"Yeah...It's not just prowling. I think... fuck, god damn it. I think she -- just come in."

I heard the click of the door unlocking and tentatively opened it. Tucker looked a disheveled mess, perched on the lip of the tub and holding himself in a stiff posture. And judging by the tenting of his pants, he was far from recovered from whatever it was that his succubus was doing. I raised an eyebrow but decided to ignore it for the meantime.

"So, obviously the bond between the two of you is extremely strong." I commented, reaching for the faucet and filling a glass with water for him.

"She's got another victim? Tucker, if you know where she is, please tell me now. We could send people to capture her, and prevent any further...mishaps."

I dampened a washcloth and wiped his face with it. Not a mother figure, not a mother figure, I kept reminding myself. He looked seriously out of it, all flushed and well, in need of a damn good screw.

"I could call a shaman in, have him attempt to break the connection. But you realise that this would mean that she would totally be set free to do whatever she wanted. Considering the way things are going though, I'd say that she's nearly at that point already. I can have someone here within the hour to perform the ritual. Can you hold on that long?"

[bitter_brother]

I took the water from Lilah, Lilah Morgan, hottest lawyer ever, and drank it all in one pull. Shaman, yeah. That would work. And, it was obvious that she'd help me. Help Amy, too, probably. I had to remember to ask her about Amy. There's no way I'd let her take the fall for this shit. If anyone was going down, it would be Jezebel. She didn't even belong on this plane, god damn it. She just manipulated us... that's how she got us to bind her.

But Lilah was different. She had connections. She had ... you know, shamans.

I took a deep breath and just let myself act on instinct. This couldn't get any worse, anyway.

I reached out slowly and she allowed me to take her wrist in my fingers. I pulled her arm toward me until she was seated on the bathtub next to me.

"Hold on?" I echoed. She looked at me quizzically and I let my eyes roll over her seated posture. Gorgeous legs, beautiful face, knowing eyes. Still holding her wrist, I left her hand on my thigh. Softly, I inferred, "Hold on to what?"

[da_lilah]

Tucker gently tugged on my wrist, pulling me down next to him. He didn't do it aggressively, so I played along. In fact, I have to say that the way he was looking at me was somewhat gratifying, even if it was induced by his bond with the succubus.

"Hold on...Hold on to what?" He'd brought my hand down so that it rested on his thigh. No mistaking the implication in the gesture, nor in the tone of his voice.

I allowed myself a smirk, and gently squeezed his thigh.

"Do you think it would help? We aim to please..." I reached up with my other hand, and lightly ran my fingertips along his cheek. He was so young. And yet, I'd seen the ambition there in his gaze too. The hunger to be more than just any ordinary person out there on the street.

"Who is she with, Tucker, do you know?" I asked gently, not taking my hand from where he'd placed it.

"Parker Abrams."

I nodded and reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my cellphone. I instructed a commando team to assemble and make a sweep around Parker Abram's dorm. Then I called for a shaman to come unbind Tucker from his manifestation as soon as was possible. I snapped the phone shut and glanced over to Tucker.

"We have a 45 minute window. Whatever shall we do to pass the time?" I commented with a coy smile.